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Chapter 18
Sinner Sinner Chicken Dinner
I was hanging out on one of Neil’s pool loungers in my bathing suit, probably (definitely) lying in the best position possible to show him what I was working with. Which, I know, was ridiculous, but let’s not act like it was the first time a person had done such a thing in front of someone they were into.
He came out of his house, pulled his slider door shut behind him, and walked toward the lounger next to me. When I caught his gaze, his eyes were already trailing their way down my stomach. He had two folded-up towels in his hands, and his grip on them visibly tightened as he reached me.
He tossed one down by my feet with a thick swallow and placed the second one firmly against his front, held there by one of his hands as he looked everywhere else but at me.
I narrowed my eyes at him, my brows pushing toward each other in confusion. Full honesty, it took me far too long to put it all together, but as soon as I did, I burst out laughing. The sound drifted up into the sky before disappearing into the clouds. “Holy shit, Neil. You’re killing me!”
He bit his lip and stifled a groan, before tossing his towel over me, walking over to the edge of the water, and plunging himself into his pool. All without saying one word to me, which only made me laugh even harder.
I was still laughing, my cheeks totally flushed, when I followed in after him. The cool water against my skin—warmed by the late fall afternoon—was just… perfect. One of those unexplainable moments that ripped you right out of time and space and felt like every other good summer memory you could think of.
I broke the surface, wiping my hands over my face, and found Neil gliding through the water, from the deep end to the shallow end and back again while hardly taking a breath.
I sat on the steps and watched him.
He really was at home in the water—as fluid as the liquid itself.
I didn’t know how much time passed as my eyes trailed his movement, back and forth across his pool too many times to count.I guess he really needed that cooldown.I smothered another smirk.
When he was finished and sufficiently out of breath, he took a seat next to me on the steps.
“You’re like a torpedo in the water,” was the first thing out of my mouth, for whatever stupid reason. “Do you have a nickname?” I continued. “You definitely need a nickname.” Obviously, I had a way with words and compliments.Obviously.
He smiled. “A nickname for Neil? What, like,Nnn?”
“No, notNnn.” I laughed. “But something.” I shrugged. “Like,Torpedo.OrN-dog,orNeilstopher,or something.”
“‘N-dog’?” He smirked.
“I kind of likeN-Rocket,” I said right through his comment, amusing myself.
He cleared his throat. “The guys on the team do have a nickname for me,” he said with a noticeable blush creeping over his cheeks. And now I really wanted to know what that nickname was—almost as desperately as if it were my last breath on earth.
Dramatic much? The answer to that, of course, wasnever.
“And that is?” I asked him. Half amusement, half suffocated desperation.
He took the space of a breath before saying, “They call me ‘Eagle,’ for my wingspan… on the butterfly stroke.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, thoughts screeching to a halt. “Why does that sound so dirty? And why do I like it so much?”
He barked out a laugh, his cheeks going even more red, and my heart sped up in my chest. I wanted to kiss him, but we were out herebecauseof all the kissing, so I didn’t think it was allowed. Which, of course, only made me want to kiss him more.
“Okay, but what about your everyday, run-of-the-mill nickname?” I asked, diverting my own attention back to the subject at hand.
He shook his head, shrugging. “I think I’ll stick with Neil.”
“Yeah, I think that’s for the best,” I quickly agreed, and he chuckled all over again. “Neil really does suit you, though.” I thought it over. “In a… Neil kind of way.”
He smiled, almost as if it had happened in slow motion. One corner of his mouth tilted upward, and the rest followed suit in a leisurely little wave. “And what does that mean?” he asked quietly, his brown eyes brightening the more he looked at me.
I shrugged, saying what immediately came to mind. “It’s a solid name. Classic. Steady, strong, sure. Attractive, but like, in a nerdy but hot kind of way. You know? And confident. And real. Like you.” I nearly choked on a few of those words because they’d come out of nowhere. They barreled right past the less honest ones, surprising me even more than they clearly surprised him.
He turned toward me, eyebrows drawn together, forming a crease between them that I wanted to run my finger over. “That’s how you see me?” he asked, the words tight with…something. Something that made my insides stall and then jump back to life in overtime.